Trolley.



E. D. MoDONALD.

TROLLEY. APPLICATION FILED NOV.28.1905.

PATENTED OCT. 9, 1906.

IIII I/ ELIJAH D. MCDONALD, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

TROLLEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 9, 1906.

Original application filed August 31, 1905, Serial No. 276,497. Divided and this application filed November 28, 1905. Serial No. 2 89,394.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, ELIJAH D. MCDONALD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Trolleys, of which.

the following is a specification.

This invention relates to trolleys for electric cars and the like.

An object of the invention is to provide a trolley of minimum Weight and maximum strength constructed to provide means for guiding the trolley past overhead switches Without permitting it to leave the trolleywire; to provide means which will prevent the trolley-pole from breaking the guy-wires in case the trolley-wheel leaves the trolleywire while the car is moving; to form a partial housing for the trolley-wheel to retain in true position the lubricant device described in my copending application for self-lubricating wheel, filed August 31, 1905, Serial No. 276,497, out of which subject-matter of this application has been divided; to provide protection for the oil-retaining plates and springs of said lubricating-Wheel and prevent the same from striking wires, switches, or other overhead devices that might cause breakage or injury to give maximum strength to the trolley-harp, and to provide an improvement in the means for handling the trolley.

The invention comprises what I term a bevel-edged trolley-harp.

In carrying out my invention I provide a trolley having harp-prongs which are beveled to form sloping faces that terminate in edges extending alongside the trolley-Wheel, as will hereinafter be more fully set forth.

Other features and advantages may appear from the following detailed description.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention in a preferred form.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a trolley embodying the invention in place on a trolleywire. Fig. 2 is a view of the upper end of the trolley looking aslant toward the trolley-pole as indicated by thearrow and viewing the ends of the harp-guards and shunting device. Fig. 3 is a plan view from a plane parallel with the trolley-pole, a portion of the harp being sectioned'and a portion of the trolley pole and harp-shank socket being sectioned. The trolley-wire is omitted from Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 4 is a section on line x :0 Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the small arrows. A fragment of the trolley-wire is also shown. Fig. 5 is an axial section of the trolley-harp.

In a general way, 1 designates what I term a bevel-edged trolley-harp, the same having a shank or socket 2, which receives the upper end of the trolley-pole 3, the latter being riveted or otherwise fastened thereto. The harp 1. carries the bearing-pin 9 and is provided at the sides of the trolley-wheel 11 with prongs forming guards 4 5, one on each side of the wheel and each provided with a flange 6, which slopes upwardly, inwardly, and forwardly from the main body of the prongs or guards to an edge 7, which extends alongside the side of the trolley-wheel. Each flange 6 is formed forwardly of the wheel 11 with an inward slope somewhat less at 6 in order to provide room for the flange of the wheel; but said slope is converged toward the socket of the harp until the flanged guards 4 5 meet forwardly of the flange of the wheel, the harp being provided with a rise at 7 just forwardly of the Wheel in order to adapt it to shunt a guy-wire on the top of the wheel in case the trolley leaves the trolley-wire and strikes a guy-wire. This form of shell also tends to throw the wheel back to the supplywire when the harp'conies against the overhead switch. Each of the guards 4 5 is provided with an inwardly-projecting boss 8, both bosses being drilled to receive a tubular bearing-pin 9, on which the hub 15 of the wheel is both slidable and revoluble.

22 designates oil retaining conductingplates provided with annular grooves 16, and 33 springs bearing against the outer sides thereof. The other parts of the lubricating mechanism are not herein specifically described, because they have been already fully set forth in said copending application.

31 designates means desirably consisting of a pair-of studs projecting inwardly from each of the guards 4 5 and engaging a part 32, projecting from the oil-retaining plate to prevent rotation thereof. It is apparent that the oil-retaining plates serve in the usual way as conductors between the trolley-wheel and the prongs of the harp through the studs 81.

35 designates the trolley-rope, and 36 an eye formed on the under side of the shank of the harp. The harp as a whole is formed as a hollow shell, the walls of the shank portion of which are indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 and shown where broken away in Fig. 3.

Each of the guards 4 5 is provided at its rear end with a downwardly-slanting extension at, which extends over the hub 15 of the wheel and completely protects the oil-retain harp comprises a tubular shank 2 and two prongs, each of which is in the form of a thin plate, said plates being bent longitudinally near the mid-line of the prongs, the portions of said prongs below the line of the bend being externally flat and parallel with each other to form the guards 4 5 and provided internally with the studs 31 and a hollow boss 8 and the portions of said prongs above and forward of said line extending aslant toward each other to form flanges 6, giving to the prongs great rigidity against lateral strain, and the axle or bearing-pin 9 is fastened in the hollow bosses by means of the cotter-pin 91.

7' designates the upwardly-sloping portion of the harp at the upper side thereof between the shank and the wheel, which portion is adapted to engage the guy-wires to cause the trolley to slip under the guy-wires in case the trolley should leave the wire at a point where the lower flanges of the overhead switches (not shown) could not bamade available for replacing the wheel in the manner hereinbefore described.

An opening 13 is provided in the upper side of the shell of the harp, said opening partially inclosing the flanged portion of the forward side of the wheel and having a neck 14 extending backwardly on each side to a point substantially in the planes of the outer edges of the wheel. This construction allows the sloping guards 4 5 to slant inwardly, upwardly, and forwardly at each side of the wheel to lines closegto theF'plane in which the edge of each trolley-wheel flange 45 extends, thus preventing the trolley-wire from crowding between the wheel and guard. Each guard, with its flange, may be considered for descriptive purposes as sloping upwardly, inwardly and forwardly to form shunts for engaging the overhead devices.

The springs 33 serve a triple purpose viz., to allow a certain lateral movement of the trolley-wheel to res 0nd to the lateral lurches of the car or tro ley-pole and also to act as electrical conductors between the wheel and the harp and also to brace the oilretaining conducting-plate 22 firmly against the trolley-escape and to maintain a good electrical contact with the hub of the wheel.

What I claim is 1. A trolley-harp comprising a tubular shank and two prongs each of which is in the form of a thin blade, said blades being bent longitudinally near the mid-line of the prongs, the portions of said prongs below the line of the bend being externally flat and parallel with each other and provided internally with studs and a hollow boss, and the portions of said prongs above and forward of said line extending aslant toward each other 3 an axle in said hollow bosses; a trolley-wheel on said axle; spiral springs around said bosses; contact-plates between and engaging said springs respectively and the trolley-wheel, and each provided with a tang extending between and engaging studs of a prong.

' 2. A trolley-harp comprising a tubular shank and prongs extending therefrom in the form of longitudinally-bent thin blades the portions thereof below and rearward ofthe line of the bend being substantially flat externally and parallel with each other and provided respectively on their inner faces with a hollow boss, and the portions of said blades above said line of the bend being aslant toward each other.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at Los Angeles, California, this 22d day of November,1905.

ELIJ AH D. MCDONALD. 

